Counterfeit Cowboy Read online

  For a moment, Jesse forgot all about Chicago and the promise he’d made to Jim Kenner about taking care of his family. He wanted only to sit next to the pretty girl on the train and discover everything about her—including if she could genuinely care for a guy like him, one who’d made innumerable mistakes.

  He had his doubts, and they were based on the facts of his past.

  She readjusted her armful of packages and her action served to put a few needed inches between them. He released her, letting his arms fall to his sides.

  He was careful to stay behind her as they crossed the small vestibule outside the train car proper, in case she slipped or stumbled again.

  After being confined to a small cell most days, the scenery rushing past threatened to make him sick. Good thing there wasn’t anything in his stomach.

  He held the vestibule door, gripping it tightly. Her shoulder brushed the lapel of his jacket as she passed, the sweet, flowery scent of her hair spiking in his nose above the dust and grit swirling around them. As they entered, she smiled up at him. “I suppose it must be true what they say about cowboys and Western courtesy.”

  He’d nearly forgotten about the outfit Jim’s sister had given him. He didn’t correct her misconception, only followed her into the train car.

  The door opened and closed behind them but he only glanced away from his companion long enough to see someone short and slight of stature—maybe a child moving from one train car to another?

  The softness under his feet was his first clue maybe he was in the wrong place. Jesse looked up and realized they’d entered a fancy sleeping car. He’d never been on a train before, but the opulence here told him the ride wasn’t going to be cheap. From the gilded chandeliers swaying overhead to the velvet-upholstered seats to the plush carpet runner, all of it bespoke the expense of riding in this car. It even smelled like money—clean and with a slight scent of coffee.

  Had his companion meant to be on this train car? She didn’t look as if she could afford it.

  He wondered how long until the conductor came through. Probably not long, so he needed to work quickly. He glanced around the nearly full car, trying to see if there was someone alone he could approach, trying to spin a story that would gain him sympathy. Lost my wallet. It might work.

  With only a few empty seats, the girl moved toward a pair of vacant benches nearest the door—where she would get a blast of cold air each time more passengers boarded, no doubt. Jesse followed close behind and took the seat across from her, his eyes still skimming the other passengers.

  She spoke as she settled in the empty seat, dropping her packages beside her. “Thank you for your assistance. Mr....?”

  He spoke absently. “Jesse Baker.”

  “I’m Erin O’Grady.” There was only a slight hesitation before she extended one dainty hand across the space between their seats.

  His hand engulfed hers when he took it. Jesse was surprised at its softness. He glanced at her again, at the simple dress beneath her coat, one fitting for a working-class girl. But her hand didn’t feel callused like a working girl’s hand should...

  Petite and curvaceous, with her soft Irish lilt and sparkling eyes... Looking at her, a strange hard knot formed behind his sternum.

  Someone plopped down beside him, jarring his shoulder.

  “And I’m Pete.” The voice came from near his elbow, and Jesse was astounded when a street urchin smiled winningly up at him—complete with stained, too-short pants, white shirt turned gray and tattered sweater. No coat. His unwashed face, gaunt figure and hands with dirt-encrusted nails completed the picture.

  Jesse was further astonished when the boy yanked his thumb in Jesse’s direction. “I’m his brother.”

  Opening his mouth to protest that Jesse had never seen the kid before now, the conductor banged into the cabin with a whirl of cold air, stalling him.

  “Tickets!” the uniformed man barked.

  Some of Erin O’Grady’s packages wobbled and fell onto the floor. She bent to pick them up, and the kid leaned close to Jesse, providing a whiff of unwashed body. “I saw you snitch a wallet offa that man in the station.”

  Jesse had to laugh, albeit incredulously, at the kid’s audacity. “I did not.”

  “Then what’s that?” The kid pointed to Jesse’s lap and Jesse was surprised that a leather billfold peeked out from between his side and his coat.

  The kid’s knee bounced up and down, belying his confident manner.

  Jesse picked it up. He’d never seen it before. The light finger must have planted it there. “This isn’t mine—”

  “You might wanna put it away then. Here comes the conductor.”

  Jesse looked up sharply, but the man had stopped just across the aisle, his back to where Jesse, Erin and the kid sat.

  “I need ta get outta town, and we’re gonna pretend like we’re brothers, otherwise the conductor’s gonna find that wallet and a couple others in your coat pocket,” the little pickpocket said. His little face was so serious Jesse didn’t doubt he’d do what he said.

  Jesse glanced covertly at Miss O’Grady, but she was bent over, head nearly touching the floor. Apparently, her package had slid underneath the seat. Between the two of them, they were the least nicely dressed in the train car. Why had the kid approached them?

  “I don’t even have enough money to buy one ticket—” Jesse started. He didn’t need trouble. What he needed to do was get to Chicago, but that was looking less and less likely.

  The conductor turned, eyes assessing their group, and Jesse stopped speaking.

  The kid beside him cleared his throat and Jesse knew he didn’t have a choice but to go along with what the boy wanted, not if he planned to stay on the train. He’d go along for now.

  Erin straightened up with an “Aha!” waving a small wrapped package successfully.

  “Tickets,” the uniformed man grunted. His foot tapped, as if he was impatient to move forward in the car.

  Erin quickly proffered a slip of paper. Her ticket.

  When the conductor looked to Jesse pointedly, he cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I boarded the train in a bit of a hurry.” This was where it was going to get interesting. “Didn’t have time to get to the ticket window.”

  “Extra charge,” the man grunted, appearing nonplussed and digging into his vest pocket. “Where to?”

  “Well, Chicago. But, sir, I can’t afford—”

  The kid cleared his throat from next to Jesse. He cut his eyes to Erin and the conductor, then gave a little quirk of his eyebrows as if silently asking Jesse What are you going to do?

  Shame, leftover from his time in prison, drew Jesse’s shoulders tight.

  “Please,” Erin interrupted with a soft touch on Jesse’s arm. It made him jump.

  He couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched him kindly. The guards had grabbed, pushed, shoved; no one had touched him with gentleness since Catherine and he didn’t want to think about her or her betrayal.

  “I’d like to pay their fares.” Erin dug around in her carpetbag and came up with a small leather pouch. It tinkled when she opened it, and Jesse saw a wad of cash inside. What was she doing with that much dough?

  “No—” Jesse started to protest. Someone like her with that kind of money—it had to be some kind of inheritance and he didn’t want to take it from her, only from someone who could afford it. He’d never taken from someone who couldn’t afford to lose a little.

  “Please, I insist. I wouldn’t have made it onto this train without your help.”

  The conductor huffed his impatience, and with a look at the kid, Jesse shrugged. Maybe he could find a way to pay her back before they parted company.

  Jesse was on his way to Chicago. In much nicer fashion than he’d imagined when he’d come to the train station
this morning. Maybe it was a sign for him that his plans to build a new life would come to fruition.

  After all, he wouldn’t have any bad memories following him around in Chicago, not like Boston.

  As the conductor moved off, Jesse settled back into the seat, finally taking off his slicker because it was pleasantly warm in the train car.

  The kid sat beside him, and Jesse spared a thought to wonder why he’d approached Jesse and Erin. What purpose did he have, blackmailing Jesse into taking him to Chicago? What did he really want?

  Jesse sat back and watched as the two chatted. He’d learned the value of watching and biding his time during his stint in prison. Not that the practice had helped him escape when another prisoner had come after him with a knife...

  “What you got all those packages for?” the kid asked.

  Erin continued arranging the stack of brown-wrapped packages she’d carried onto the train. “They’re gifts for my brother and his family. That’s who I’m visiting in Wyoming.”

  “All of ’em?” The incredulous question seemed to burst out of the boy.

  Erin nodded.

  Jesse waited for her to tell the boy to be quiet and leave her alone. He didn’t understand why she was still talking to the kid, who’d quickly proved an annoyance to Jesse. Maybe she felt sorry for him.

  “My brother and his wife recently had a baby,” she told the kid patiently. “And I haven’t met her yet.” Her expression turned inward for a moment, as if she regretted what she’d just said.

  One thing was clear. This brother and his family were important to her.

  Jesse tried not to think about his own family. His ma, who he hadn’t seen in a decade and who had likely disowned him. Or his brother Daniel, who he’d been responsible for and had failed completely.

  * * *

  Erin had felt Jesse Baker flinch when she’d touched his arm. He hadn’t reacted in any other way, but she knew she’d felt his arm jerk away when she’d lightly touched him.

  The question was why.

  She was naturally curious, and drawn to the man who’d helped her. He was certainly handsome, with chiseled features beneath his Stetson and those arresting brown eyes. She guessed he was five or six years older than her, in his mid-twenties; although the lines around his eyes seemed to indicate he had led a harder life than she...

  A muscle in his jaw ticked and he seemed to be glaring at Pete, who paid him no mind as he glanced around the train car. The poor condition of the boy’s clothing seemed to indicate he’d lived a harder life than Erin, as well. Her heart pinched as she remembered many faces just like his, faces she was leaving behind.

  “So...what’s in Chicago?” she asked to distract herself from thoughts better left in Boston.

  “A new start,” came Jesse’s reply. He shifted his feet, his boot brushing against the tip of her shoe. Muted conversations from other passengers weren’t audible enough to break into their conversation, offering them a bit of privacy even in the well-populated train car.

  “Really? You’re giving up being a cowboy?”

  He looked down at himself, as if assessing the woolen shirt and denims he wore. Shook his head slightly. Looked away, as if he didn’t want to answer.

  Well. She looked to Pete and smiled, if a little thinly. Certainly, Jesse didn’t owe her any explanations, but this would be a long trip with a quiet companion... “And you’re going with your brother. What about your other family?”

  “Ain’t got much family left. Our parents died off. I was living with my aunt ’n’ uncle when my brother, Jesse here, came to get me—”

  Jesse nudged Pete with his elbow, breaking off the boy’s sentence. “I’d been away from home...for a while.”

  “Well, that explains the disparity—” She paused and chose another word when Pete began to look confused. “The difference in your clothing. You don’t really look as if you belong together.”

  Jesse shot a long look at the boy sitting next to him. Pete returned it in kind. Erin didn’t know what communication they’d exchanged silently, but whatever it was, the message didn’t make either one particularly happy.

  “But you’re bringing your brother to live with you? That’s quite compassionate of you, Mr. Baker.”

  His eyebrows drew into a slight questioning frown as he looked at her for a long moment.

  “Yeah, real compassionate,” said Pete with a cuff of Jesse’s arm that seemed to bring him out of his stare. He shook his head.

  Erin encompassed them both with a smile. “Family is important,” she said softly with a little twinge for what she’d left behind in Boston. She shored up her smile, determined not to let what had happened with her father ruin her trip. “Especially this time of year.”

  Pete’s expression remained blank.

  “Christmas?” she offered tentatively. “The joy of Jesus’s birth should be shared with those we love.”

  The boy’s nose wrinkled. Did he know the Christmas story? Erin had to wonder and, if his clothing was any indication of his home situation, she guessed he might not.

  What would it be like to go through life without having the Savior’s love as comfort? She didn’t want to imagine the bleakness she would have endured without that hope during her lonely childhood...

  She opened her mouth to say something—she didn’t know what—only to find Jesse considering her thoughtfully, his brown eyes almost seeming to take her measure. Heat climbed in her cheeks. Perhaps he thought she was sticking her nose in where she shouldn’t.

  Then an attendant approached, and the tension between them was broken. The uniformed man recited the menu for the midday meal included in the ticket price as he installed a plank table between the two facing seats. Ingenious.

  Her companions allowed Erin to make her selection first, then made their own. When Pete asked for a cup of coffee, she nearly inserted that he shouldn’t have any, but Jesse glowered at him and told the waiter to bring him a glass of milk.

  “And no potatoes,” Jesse added as the man moved away. Curiosity piqued, Erin was going to ask him about the unusual request but he’d twisted to face his brother.

  “You ever been on a train before?” The inflection in Jesse’s voice made him sound suspicious, rather than curious.

  “Oh, yeah. Lotsa times—” Pete stopped midsentence, as if thinking better of his statement. He glanced warily at his older brother. “I mean, once. Mam took me to see, um...a friend of hers in New York. Before she passed.”

  Something about his statement didn’t ring true. The two brothers continued to consider each other, almost fiercely. Silence stretched awkwardly, and Erin could hear the clinking of other passengers’ silverware against their plates and the low hum of other conversations. She shifted in her seat.

  And then the attendant returned, bearing two plates of beefsteak for the men, one with no potatoes gracing its plate, and Erin’s split pea soup.

  The steam tickled her nose as she bowed her head and said a silent blessing over her food. When she raised her head and lifted her spoon she found Jesse’s eyes on her, an incredulous look on his features as if he’d never seen such a thing done before.

  He looked away quickly, and she followed his gaze to Pete, who was stuffing his mouth so full that his cheeks puffed out. The boy’s plate was already considerably emptied.

  “Kid—” Jesse started speaking, a warning tone in his voice. Before he could say more, Pete’s face turned green.

  “Is he all right?”

  Before she could get the entire question out, Jesse launched into the aisle, dragging Pete by the elbow, but it was too late. Pete lurched once, couldn’t seem to get his footing, and then lost the contents of his stomach on the edge of the seat and floor.

  He continued to heave as Jesse hauled him down the aisle toward the washroom until E
rin lost sight of them.

  * * *

  Jesse pushed the kid into the men’s washroom, just in time for another round of retching. Jesse kept the door mostly shut. He had an iron gut, especially after the things he’d seen in prison. The sharp scent of the kid’s sick didn’t bother him a bit, even in the close confines of the small hallway outside the washroom, but he didn’t want the other passengers to see or hear the kid expelling his lunch.

  He’d almost felt a little sorry for the knucklehead. The kid’s arm in Jesse’s grasp had been slight, and there wasn’t much of him to have to haul to the washroom. He was obviously on his own, and not doing too well at it. Jesse wondered about the wallet the kid had tried to foist off on him. It hadn’t occurred to Jesse to check and see if there was anything in it. It could’ve been empty—a ruse to get Jesse to help the kid with a ticket.

  The kid was proving to be a pain. Jesse wanted to get to Chicago without much fuss, and making a scene like this wasn’t in his plans.

  Jesse wondered if his seatmate would notice if the kid didn’t come back with him. Maybe Jesse could put him off at the next stop?

  Although it didn’t sit quite right with him to leave a sick kid on his own. Even if the kid had already caused Jesse a heap of trouble by blackmailing him into a train ticket. If Jesse could figure what the kid wanted, maybe he could get rid of him.

  “What happened?” asked a soft voice from Jesse’s elbow and he turned to find Erin O’Grady standing near. She was even more rumpled than she’d been after their wild flight to board the train. And there was a suspicious stain at the hem of her dress.

  “The kid ate too fast is all,” Jesse explained, turning toward her and using his shoulders to block her from the sight behind him.

  A moan came from the washroom. The train rocked and because they stood so close, she swayed forward and Jesse got a whiff of her sweet smell.

  “Shouldn’t you go in and help him?”

  “Hmm? Oh.” Jesse started to respond that the two of them wouldn’t fit in the small washroom.